Several blackjack side wagers have appeared in recent years. Top of the Deck is a side bet on whether or not the player and/or dealer will receive a "natural" (a two-card 21).
Over/Under 13 is a side bet on whether the player's first two cards will total over or under 13. The side wager is made at the start of a new hand.
Royal Match (Boylan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,107) is a side bet on whether the player's first two cards will be of the same suit. The wager is made at the start of the new hand, and is a completely passive bet.
Super 7s is a bet on whether on not the player will receive one or more sevens in his/her hand.
Bust-Out is a side wager which is made while the blackjack hand is in progress. Where the dealer's hand is "stiff," i.e. a hard hand with value between 12 and 16, the players are allowed to wager on whether the next card will have the value of 10.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,485, issued in 1997 to Bill M. Woodland and Linda M. Woodland, discloses a side bet for blackjack wherein a player is allowed to wager on whether the player will receive a "stiff" hand. A variation allows the player to bet on whether he/she will be dealt a non-pair "stiff" hand or a pair of aces. In a still further embodiment, a player in a blackjack game is provided with the option of wagering on whether the first two cards will result in a "stiff" hand or a "soft" hand, i.e. that the player's first two cards include an ace and either: 1) any non-ten denomination, i.e., an ace through nine, or 2) any non-ten and non-ace denomination, i.e. two through nine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,705, issued in 1997 to Elizabeth String, discloses a side bet wherein the player elects to bet on the player obtaining a winning hand by placing a wage on a second betting area, or whether to bet on the dealer obtaining a winning hand by placing a wager on a first betting area.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,579, issued in 1992 to Steve Griffiths, discloses a side bet to conventional blackjack wherein the player is wagering on whether the dealer will either bust on his hand or achieve a hand count of exactly 21.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,934, issued in 1995 to Louis J. Grassa, discloses a side bet to blackjack wherein a player can play not only his own hand against the dealer but by an extra play also those hands of the other players at the table. A first player making an extra play is betting on the outcome of the cards of a second player's position, over which the first player has no control.
Destiny 21 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,917, issued in 1997 to Olaf Vancura) allows players to wager on the number of hits that they and/or the dealer will ultimately take.
What is needed is a further side wager game associated with blackjack that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, the side wager should give the player an opportunity to win when the dealer has a ten-value card showing, and is therefore somewhat likely to obtain a hand having a difficult-to-beat score of twenty. Additionally, a side wager game with a very large and progressive jackpot is needed to attract player participation.